Reason
by Raven Shinobi
Summary: SMT: Nocturne. Demi-Fiend introspection. Takes place after the Diet Building and follows the Neutral/Human path.


**Disclaimer: **_**Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne **_**is the property of **_**Atlus.**_

**Reason**

_"What was so bad about our old world compared to this demon-infested hell?_"

That was the question that kept resounding in his head as he wandered the barren expanses of this distorted world, burnt into his memory the image of the vortex that stretched to the horizon that he had found in the place of the street where he once lived. He did not recall hearing his parents' "Be careful out there!" as he announced his departure that fateful day, as he changed from indoor slippers to his sneakers. The possibility of them being away at that time tore him with ambivalence as what served as the less cruel fate: to survive as spirits haunting the ruins of Tokyo, waiting to be bumped into by him, or being swallowed by a pool of warped space so they would not live this nightmare and witness the sight of their only son bearing this demonic curse?

_"Why among all of Ms. Takao's students only I, Isamu and Chiaki were spared the fate of annihilation_?"

He wondered every time he came across those spheres of ethereal blue floating in the air, taking translucent human shape once they were within proximity. Could he and his friends have easily been one of them had Ms. Takao not taken a liking to them?

_"What were the Devil's true intentions to ingest me with this power and assimilate me into the ranks of demons? Why did he give that sword-wielding foreigner a candelabrum and hired him to hunt me down like some prey?_"

The Yahirono Himorogi glinted like gold encrusted with sapphire, casting yellow and indigo patches on Naoki's downcast visage as it caught the sunlight filtered through the overhead tinted glass. The corridors of the shopping complex of Ginza were devoid of all sound except the humming of water trickling from the fountain behind him. The entire demon population of the Vortex World must have taken off to serve as entourage for whomever represented their ideal vision of the next world. He did not take notice until now of the grief in his heart, nor of the rage burning in it like an ember as he pictured the demons of Nihilo rejoicing over their maiden's death that brought forth their evil god.

The indentations of the object in his hands stabbed into his palms as they clenched around it. At first he did not understand anything, but her words: the sadness and the urgency that he could hear in them as they witnessed their world's final moments kept replaying in his psyche, as long as he could remember ever since his rebirth as the Demi-Fiend. But the further he journeyed for answers the further he realized the extent of his powerlessness, all while being reminded of his own ignorance and gullibility as he obliviously did the others' bidding.

His failures then were recounted for him like a slideshow playing before his mind's eyes: Isamu's descent into madness as he continuously failed to be there for him when he was most defenseless... Chiaki's awakened hunger for power that ended up possessing her as she painted the remains of Tokyo crimson with the blood of those whom she deemed "unnecessary"... Hijiri-whom he never once had doubted his benevolence as he received his directions and advice with gratitude-and his hidden ambition as he manipulated him like a puppet on strings... the Devil that infused him with this power and pitted him against all those skeletal demons for something far more diabolical than to ease his boredom... and most recently, Ms. Takao as he stood there, unable to lift a finger as she was sacrificed before his eyes like a lamb on an altar...

Naoki bolted upright, blinking away his unshed tears as his lineaments hardened with resolve. His hands balled into fists and his steps echoed in the silence as he headed to empty his pockets of all the macca and the jewels he had left and acquire the best demons and items that they could afford him.

His best friends turned their backs on him, he did not have a single Magatsuhi at his disposal, he was not surrounded with the protection of some mythical being, and he was a cursed entity forbidden from possessing a Reason. All he had was this Yahirono Himorogi and her vision of a world of freedom that he intended to actualize on her behalf.

He was going to take their old world back!


End file.
